The Everton manager David Moyes has finally signed a new contract that will keep him at the Merseyside club until 2013, ending months of speculation over the Scotsman's future at Goodison Park.

"There have been many different things for different reasons," said Moyes, "but we are here now and the big thing for me is that I am at Everton, as far as I am concerned, for another five years and the job is to make us better than we have been.
"I am really excited and really pleased. I am pleased for everybody – I'm pleased for myself and my family who were desperate to get it signed and secured and it is always what I wanted to do."

Moyes joined the club in 2002 and there was some concern that, in an era of billionaire owners, the club could no longer fulfill his ambitions. Moyes, though, outlined his determination to take Everton forward.

"Since I took over six years ago, I think there has been an improvement and the job is that I want a similar improvement over the next five years or so," he said. "I want the ambition to be greater. I want the expectancy to be higher and I want Everton overall to be higher on the field and off the field, I am determined to try and take it forward."

Despite the speculation to the contrary, the Everton chairman Bill Kenwright insists he was always confident of securing the services of a manager who has guided the club to three top six finishes in the past four seasons.

"There have always been two people – myself and David – confident that the long term future of the manager would eventually be secured," he said. "The signatures of those two people are now on a contract. I am obviously very pleased that the contract, that I've always believed to be the most important contract, is now concluded."